Former prime minister Kim Campbell testifies before the Oliphant Commission in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 29 2009. She faced backlash after tweeting about U.S. President Donald Trump on Aug. 30, 2019. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)

Former PM apologizes after ‘rooting’ for hurricane to hit Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort

Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell has issued an apology for a tweet she wrote saying that she was “rooting” for Hurricane Dorian to hit one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s favourite places: his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Campbell, who spent four months as prime minister while leader of the Progressive Conservative party in 1993, tweeted Friday morning: “I’m rooting for a direct hit on Mar a Lago!”

She has since deleted the statement off the social media platform, instead issuing an apology for showing “extremely poor taste.”

Dorian has been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane, expected to increase to Category 4 before reaching land on Monday. Thousands in and around Florida are preparing for the worst, which could include 175 kilometre-per-hour winds, heavy rain and flash flooding.

Trump announced he was cancelling overseas trips in order to monitor the hurricane.

“It was intended as sarcasm-not a serious wish of harm,” Campbell said in her statement of apology.

I have deleted my tweet about the hurricane & Mar a Lago and sincerely apologize to all it offended. It was intended as sarcasm-not a serious wish of harm. Throwaway lines get a life of their own on Twitter. I shd know better. Mea culpa.

This isn’t the first time in recent years that Campbell’s tweets have caused controversy. In February 2018 she tweeted that female broadcasters shouldn’t show their bare arms on television as they “undermine credibility and gravitas.”

Those comments weren’t deleted, but it did spark the matter to be looked into at the B.C. Legislature, which found that women do have the right to bare arms while men should be allowed to leave their tie at home.